Billy Black

Judges named the Catalina 309 - Domestic Boat of the Year for its simple, user-friendly design.

Cruising World has picked the Catalina 309 as the top overall domestic boat for 2007. The winners, along with the rest of the Boat of the Year category award winners, will be featured in the January issue of Cruising World, due to hit newsstands on December 15. This marks the 14th edition of these prestigious awards by the nation's foremost cruising title.

Despite being one of the smallest sailboats in the running, the Florida-built Catalina 309 hit the bull's-eye in claiming the top overall Domestic Boat of the Year award. "I think that for the purpose it was put on the water, to be able to walk down, jump aboard, and simply go enjoy it on a weekend, the boat not only hit the price in terms of value but also hit the mark in terms of use," remarked judge Alvah Simon, a world voyager.

Cruising World judges also noted that this easy-to-handle boat may attract new sailors to the sport so they can learn the ropes and then trade up to another model, an approach that's important to the health of the entire industry. In addition to the overall title, the Catalina 309 picked up the Best Small Cruiser award as well. An independent panel of experts named the winners after inspecting and then testing the 23 boats that won nominations to the contest announced during the U.S. Sailboat Show in Annapolis, Maryland, in October.

Cruising World Boat of the Year Winners
2007 Domestic Boat of the Year
Catalina 309